Mail-discharging apparatus.



J. R. ENGLAND. MAIL DISGHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00120, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

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J. R. ENGLAND.

MAIL DISGHARGING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 0013.20, 1909.

961,943. Patented June 21,1910.

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JAMES ROSS ENGLAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-DISCHARGING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Application filed. October 20, 1909. Serial No. 523,617.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Ross ENG- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Discharging Apparatus, of which the following, taken in connection with the drawing, is a description.

My invention has for its object the production of apparatus for discharging mail, principally newspapers, from moving trains, and is designed for handling mail in a much quicker and easier way than is now done, and by means of which the number of clerks now required to handle and distribute the mail is greatly lessened.

A further object of my invention is to produce such a discharge receptacle that may be arranged inside of and operated in the mail cars as now constructed, and one which may be operated to discharge from either of the side doors of the mail car.

A further object of the invention is to produce such a device which may be folded when not in use, into a small space upon the floor of the car.

Various modifications in detail and touching the construction and arrangement of the different parts of the device will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the construction of devices of this kind, and I do not desire to be limited in these regards, as the form illustrated is but an embodiment of my invention.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification and in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 illustrates a sectional view of part of a car body having my invention arranged between the side doors thereof; Fig. 2 is a like view of the car body illustrating my invention in the discharge position; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the discharge receptacle; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4.l of Fig. 1.; looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l with the sides folded down; Fig. 6 is a longitudinal view of the receptacle illustrating the entire receptacle in folded position; Fig. 7 is a rear view illustrating means for locking the sides and end in upright position, and illustrating in side elevation a device upon which the receptacle may be swung to discharge mail from either side of the car; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail of one of the upper corners of the rear end piece.

In the drawings A represents the longitudinal sills of the car underframe, A the floor and A A the door casings of a railway mail car which may be of the form and construction now in service.

Positioned between the oppositely facing doors of a car is my discharge receptacle which is designed to fit just inside of a door casing and to be projected therethrough to discharge mail therefrom at the stations desired as the train is moving. This receptacle is preferably made of sheet metal and is provided with a floor or bottom B, two upright side members B, B and front and rear end members 12,6 respectively. The sides and front and rear members are movably secured to the bottom B by hinges c or the like, and are adapted when not in use to be collapsed and folded together as shown in Fig. 6.

Secured beneath the floor B of the receptacle are the channels G, G, each of which has an elongated opening 0, 0 therein which forms a guideway for the projecting arms 0 c which are secured to the door casings and project into said openings forming abutments which limit the outward movement of the receptacle as shown in Fig. 2.

Extending from the upper corners of the side members B of the receptacle are the bosses or knobs d, d, which project through apertures in the rear end piece I). Pivotally secured at d to the upper edge of the rear end piece I) is a double acting lever D, which has outwardly extending arms d 65 secured thereto upon each side of the fulcrum point, Fig. 7. When the end piece I) is in upright position and the project-ions d, 03 extend through coincident openings in said end piece, the lever is turned to the position shown in Fig. 7 which braces the arms d 01 against the projections cl, cl, and locks them in position holding the sides B, B and rear end piece 6 in upright position, as shown in Fig. 1.

The forward end piece 7) is provided with pins 6 upon the outer edges thereof. To one of these pins upon each edge of the end piece Z) is secured a strap or chain b which is attached at its opposite end to the side pieces B as at I), for a purpose hereinafter described.

E, E, are rods which extend through the rear end piece 6 and are locked in position by the hook e. Each of these rods'extend" ing from the edge of the end piece I) and hold it in upright position, Fig. l.

E, E are wheels which are mounted upon bosses extending from the channels C, O.

Secured to the floor of the car and extending across the door opening upon each side of the car is a rod F, upon which is mounted two spring cams F, F A strap or other connection f is secured to the lower rear edge of the receptacle and to the cam F, and a like strap f is connected to the forward edge of the receptacle and to the cam F A lever G is secured to the rod F preferably near one of the door casings. In the operation of the device the tension of the spring in the cam F, when the lever G is released, will carry the receptacle forward to discharge position, and when the lever Gr is raised the spring in cam 'F will move the receptacle back to normal position inside the car.

I have described the receptacle thus far as operated from one side of a mail car. WVhen it is desired to discharge mail from the opposite side of the car the receptacle is swung around to bring the forward end Z) between the door casings A A on that side of the car. This is accomplished-by means of a lever H, which is fulcrumed at h and having one end thereof provided with a head it which extends beneath the receptacle from the rear thereof. lVhen it is desired to swing the receptacle to operate it in the opposite direction, the attendant presses down upon the lever H with his foot which will raise the receptacle from the floor when it may be easily turned by swinging it onthe. pivot h, the pressure on the lever is released and the receptacle drops into position in front of the opposite door, the arms 0 0 are adjusted in the slots 0, 0 and the straps f, are secured to the corresponding cams arranged on the opposite side of the car, and. the rece tacle is ready for operation as before.

en the receptacle'isnot in use, the lever D is released, and the ends and sides are folded together as shown in Fig. 6. When it is to be operated for discharging mail, the

forward and rear end pieces and the. sides are raised and secured in position as heretofore explained, the mail bags or packages are placed in the receptacle and when the place at which they are to be discharged is reached the operator disengages the hooks E, E, and throws the lever Gr, when the force exerted upon the strap f by the spring in cam F will immediately carry the receptacleforward to the position shown in Fig. 2, at the same time the end piece I) is automatically unlocked and has dropped to the position shown in said figure, which then forms an extension to the bottom of the re they are at present thrown from the train,

by reason of which there is'no'danger of the mall being drawn under the wheels of the moving train. As soon as the mail is dis-' charged the operator moves the lever G in the oppositev direction which exerts the tension of the spring in cam F through the strap f" and moves the receptacle inside of the car. The time consumed in moving the receptacle in either direction is but a second or two for each operation.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a device which is easy of operation, occupies but little s ace in the car, is quickly operated, and is e ectual in the performance of its functions.

As is obvious, I contemplate, instead of turning the receptacle to operate from either side of the car as I have described this specification, a separate receptacle may bev provided for each side of the ear.

I claim 1. A discharge receptacle comprising a bottom, sides and end pieces detachably secured together, and means for tilting said receptacle intodischarge position, substantially as described.

2. A discharge receptacle having a bottom, sides and ends detachably secured together, means for tilting said receptacle into an inclined position and dropping the forward end piece to form an elongation of the bottom of the receptacle, substantially as described.

3. A discharge receptaclehaying the bottom, sides and ends thereof detachably se-- 5. A discharge receptacle, having a bot- I tom, side and" end members hinged thereto and adapted to be raised and secured in up'-- right position, Wheels upon which said receptacle is mounted, mechanism cooperating with said receptacle to simultaneously move it forward into discharge position,- means for limiting its forward movement, and means for restorin it to normal horizontal position, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of the car body having door openings therein, a rod extending across each of said openings, cams mounted on said rods, a discharge receptacle connected with said cams, a lever operating the aforesaid rod to move the receptacle into discharge position and to reverse its movement to normal position.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of the car body having side door openings, a rod extending across each of said openings, spring cams mounted on said rods, a discharge receptacle connected to said cams, a lever operated to move said receptacle forward and back, and means for limiting its movement in either direction, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES ROSS ENGLAND.

Witnesses:

A. V. WELDON, WELLS GooDHUE. 

